Government of NigeriaAug 31, 2017 So, on Thursday the 24th of August, 2017, we held the inaugural edition of our conversation series, #PODEMeets. Our Debut Special Guest was Dr. Joe Abah, at that time one day to the end of his four-year tenure as Director General, Bureau Of Public Service Reforms (BPSR). Yes, it was his final week as DG, and we had the opportunity to get him to reflect on the preceding four years, in this hour-long interview (full video above). Below are highlights of what he said: ON HIS VISION/AMBITION AS DIRECTOR GENERAL, BPSR: What I set out to achieve,
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“Ezemmuo unadulterated” “DG of Everything” | TwitterNG says goodbye to Dr Joe Abah
The most beloved of all Director Generals in Nigeria and the epitome of a public servant, Dr Joe Abah, has stepped down as the DG of BPSR (Bureau of Public Service Reforms) and Twitter NG is sad to see him go. Like his ancestors before him, Dr Joe Abah is a gifted story teller. He used this talent to great effect in engaging folks- cantankerous and even tempered, overlords and subjects, altogether on Twitter. Dr Joe Abah wasn’t merely talk, as we know most of our politicians and civil servants to be. He achieved a considerable number of reforms such that at
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People Translated ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ Into Pidgin And It’s Hilarious
Pidgin is too dope Some people think speaking pidgin English is local, but if you’ve ever heard a Warri man speak pidgin you’ll think twice. Why do you think they say ‘Warri no dey carry last?’ Image: Twitter Dr Joe Abah asked Nigerians to translate ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ into Pidgin and stand the chance of winning a prize Can you say “The Lord’s Prayer” fully in pidgin English? You stand the chance to win this book. — Dr. Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) 9:23 PM – Jun 21, 2017 Now for those who don’t know The Lord’s Prayer, or have forgotten it, here
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Why I Want To Die On My Government Seat!
Why I Want To Die On My Government Seat! No, not me! I certainly don’t!! Rather, this post seeks to unravel something that, to many people, is a mystery: Why do Nigerian public servants do everything to avoid retiring from their positions, while public servants in other countries are holding protests to LOWER the retirement age? Indeed, Nigerian public servants have been known to falsify their ages just to stay on in office. For some, if you follow their employment records closely, they would have graduated from university at the age of 2 years old! I know there are child
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Budget Padding 101: For Beginners
Budget Padding 101: For Beginners Every good “intellekshual” article should start with definitions. I’m afraid that, having said that, it’s all downhill from here on in. That’s because the term “budget padding” means different things to different people. However, we will start with the basics and take it from there, and see whether we can make some sense of this topic. You see, when someone is appointed a Director-General, Executive Secretary or Permanent Secretary in Nigeria, it is a big deal that is sometimes celebrated with congratulatory advertisements in major newspapers. It is an achievement, not a call to service
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Africa Has Too Many Pilots, None Of Them Taking Off! – by Joe Abah
No! Not aircraft pilots, donor pilot projects. The world of development is littered with “pilots.” Demonstration projects that show it can be done. We know that with donor funding, donor expertise, discrete initiatives and clearly defined “results” certain things can work in developing countries. We know that! Doing new pilots do not tell us anything new. The question is: do donor pilot projects lead to “organic diffusion? Does doing demonstration projects lead to systemic changes in institutions. By Institutions, we mean the way that things are done in a society. This is to be distinguished from Organisations (groups of people
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When money finishes, people remain: The challenges of youth unemployment in Nigeria
February 2017 Abah, J. When money finishes, people remain: The challenges of youth unemployment in Nigeria. GREAT Insights Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 1. February/March 2017. The need to tackle rising youth unemployment is clear to all. Nigeria needs to develop a coordinated, overarching youth employment policy, approved at the highest level of government, to guide all the interventions. A few days ago, Mr Bisi Ogunwale, a businessman, reported on Twitter how a young boy had begged him for money at a popular bus stop in Lagos, the bustling commercial capital of Nigeria. When he refused to give the boy any
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Africa’s problem is planning, not implementation!
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure” [Confucius] Everywhere you go in Africa, you are likely to hear people say “Our problem is not planning, but implementation.” People regale you with various examples of “beautiful plans” that were “technically perfect” but never made it to implementation. Indeed, the refrain “Our problem is not planning but implementation” receives knowing nods of approval from all and sundry and is generally taken as accepted wisdom. It is likely to win you loud ovation at any workshop or seminar in Africa. You could be forgiven for
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Nigeria Only Needs 6 Ministers. Sack The Other 30!
That got your attention, right? Preposterous idea, isn’t it? Or is it? Well, proponents of the Minimalist State argue that Government should only focus on Security, Health and Education, and leave everything else to the private sector to do. They will say “Let’s allow government to only have Ministers for Health, Education, Defence and Interior. That’s all! Everything else should be private sector run! Oh, alright then, let’s be generous and allow them Finance and Petroleum Ministers to make it 6, but we must really sack everyone else! Given the state of our economy, we really cannot justify spending money
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Those Useless Civil Servants
Those Useless Civil Servants First of all, I have finaly given in and joined Medium to save my readers the agony of my infamous 100-tweet tweet-storms. This post is my first and it was prompted by a tweet by @ManiPeters that some civil servants are untrainable. As always, I will start by providing some context, and my views will be based both on rigorous academic research and many years of practitioner experience. Of course, it wouldn’t have been authored by me if it was not somewhat controversial. Oh, and it may a bit long. The brilliant Nigerian political scientist, Peter Ekeh, wrote a
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